The Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals has dismissed a complaint filed by a Lake Township man against the township police chief and Wood County prosecutor.

The appeals court ruled the Wood County Common Pleas Court didn’t abuse its discretion by dismissing the complaint filed by Dan Prewitt for failing to state “a legally cognizable claim.”

Chief Mark Hummer and Paul Dobson, prosecutor, were named as defendants in Prewitt’s complaint filed in May 2014 that alleged the chief illegally removed Prewitt’s granddaughter from his Pemberville Road home earlier that year. Prewitt claimed the chief, at the direction of Dobson, violated his Fourth Amendment rights when the chief “unlawfully forced his way” into Prewitt’s home and removed the girl.

There is concern about Asian carp reaching the Great Lakes, but is anyone concerned about the term “Asian” carp?

There is no such thing, technically — “Asian” carp is a “garbage word” for four species of invasive fish from the same family (Cyprinidae), says biologist Dr. Patrick Kocovsky. The family also includes emerald shiners, minnows, and other fish related to carp.

However, one species of Asian carp, grass carp, is already spawning in the Great Lakes. Dr. Kocovsky says researching grass carp could provide the gateway to keeping other Asian Carp species, which are more of a threat to the lake’s ecology, from flourishing in the Great Lakes.

One component of the FirstEnergy rate plan recently approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is front and center in complaints now on file before a federal regulator.

Depending on which side of the rate case you’re on, what is called the Retail Rate Stability Rider is either a form of rate insurance to shield consumers from rate volatility or a bailout for FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities that transfers costs and risks of the aging coal-fired and nuclear plant to consumers.

After the PUCO approved a plan that would be in effect from June of this year through May 2024, the case is now pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

On April 5, State Rep. Michael Sheehy (D-Oregon) urged Gov. John Kasich to address the ongoing water quality issues affecting Toledo and the Lake Erie basin in his State of the State address scheduled for the following day, April 6.

“Last year, Governor Kasich failed to mention the ongoing water quality challenges faced by communities in Northwest Ohio,” said Sheehy. “The work accomplished with Senate Bill 1 to address these issues was a step in the right direction, but the state must take additional and immediate action to protect the drinking water of millions of Ohioans. I urge the governor to lay out his plan to protect Lake Erie and the Ohioans who depend upon it. We cannot afford to risk another water crisis.”